Through the Forest
by teddyandemily
Summary: Healing, Learning, Missing, Dreaming. Drabble collection by Teddy and Emily
1. Unnoticed (teddy)

_Dear Cedric,_

_I'm so sorry that I've waited this long to write this. You probably never even knew that I existed, did you? We were in the same year. I suppose that may be all that I have going for me, but there's a part of me that hopes you noticed me._

_I'm sorry that it's too late for me to do anything for you. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realize. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to save you, and I'm sorry that I never said any of this while you were still here. But I thought it. Some nights, I couldn't sleep because my thoughts were taken up with memories of you. It was always your face in my dreams when I slept._

_They say that it's the thoughts that count, but thoughts can only get you so far in life. I've learned that now. I've seemed to have learned so much-the only issue is that I've learned it too late._

_I just can't fathom it-you were there, but now-now... I don't know what to do with myself anymore, it seems. I know it seems foolish._

_Just when I felt like you lived in some other world than I did, just when I felt like giving up on you, it happened._

_After the first task of that damned tournament, you were pacing in the forest, remember. I do. You were muttering to yourself. I myself had been taking a stroll. That whole year had been so odd without playing Quidditch. I missed the fresh air, so I had gotten accustomed to taking walks. I had never come across anyone before, though. But when I saw_ you_ looking so... looking so different, I had to stop. I'd realized that we'd never truly had a proper conversation, and I was hoping you'd notice me. You didn't, obviously. But I was foolish and inquisitive and just plain nosy, so I hid and listened to what you said._

_You were talking about Cho Chang that night. I never understood what you saw in her, but I respected your decisions, so I didn't question you. You talked about your past girlfriends, and though I knew it was wrong, I somehow couldn't get myself to leave you in peace. I wanted to know all that I could about you. You weren't necessarily what you'd call an open book. You were mysterious and brilliant and handsome. I suppose that's what all the girls thought of you, too._

_You seemed to like walking near the forest. I was the same way. For nights on end, you would go there and talk through all your problems, and I would listen in to everything. You never knew, and I feel terrible for knowing everything that I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, Ced._

_The forest was our meeting place, it always had been. The only thing was, only I knew that. I knew your hidden secrets, but you? You only knew my name and nothing else, did you? Nevertheless, the forest was _ours_. It was the gathering place where you could share your feelings and emotions and talk through your thoughts._

_At the time, I only thought of the whole situation as myself learning prized information about the 'mysterious' Cedric Diggory. I never made the connection until now. I never thought about what you would say if you knew that someone else knew everything you had been trying to keep to yourself._

_I know that I've waited too long to write this. It only makes me wonder what would have happened between us if I would have told you earlier. But now the moment's gone; it's like your life was a burning candle, all your secrets I overheard pouring over like hot wax. And then, all too soon, your flame was blown out along with all the hope of any relationship between the two of us._

_So this is simply me saying that, though I know you'll never read this, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for keeping this from you Ced, and most importantly, I'm sorry for knowing everything and not helping you. I knew you were struggling with that bloody tournament, but I just let you pull yourself through it. I promise you that if I knew how this would've turned out, I never would have done those things._

_Forever sorry,_

_Roger Davies_

* * *

**A.N:**

**(This was written by teddylupin-snape)**

**For:**

**The Big/Lil Sis Team Prompt Competition: Round Two. Prompts used: Emotion: grief; Item: candle.**


	2. Never Forgotten (teddy)

"Hey, Remus, are you up here?"

Sirius received no reply, but he heard muffled sobs. He moved closer to the four-poster with the curtains drawn. "Rem, listen to me. You - you can't stay cooped up in here any more. Just come out and talk to me, alright?"

"No."

"Hey, come on. You had better be decent, I'm opening these curtains." Sirius gently pulled apart the drapes surrounding a weeping Remus Lupin. "Alright, up you get. Come with me, I need to tell you something."

Sirius gently took Remus' hand and led the latter out of the dormitory and down through the corridors. He didn't stop until they had reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Once at his destination, Sirius turned to his friend. Tears were still sliding down his face, but Sirius looked straight past this, into his eyes.

"What are you so worried about, Rem?" Sirius asked calmly.

Remus gave a dejected sigh, knowing that Sirius wouldn't let him get away without a clear-cut answer. "I... I thought you-you would leave me. I knew that you wouldn't want to hang around a monster like me. I didn't want to put you in that position. I don't want to hurt any of you."

"Remus Lupin, look at me. You _do_ realize that none of us would ever abandon you. Right? We would never do that to you, not when you need us the most. What kind of people do you take us for? So you've got... a little problem. That doesn't mean anything," Sirius replied.

"I..." Remus sighed, "I thought you would have... left me, found another friend... I thought you would have moved on and forgotten about me."

"Rem, how could we ever forget about you? You mean way too much to all of us. We couldn't just push you out of our lives. I brought you here-I know you can't stand the forest, but hear me out, okay! I brought you here to show you that no matter what-_no matter what_-we'd always, without a doubt, forever and ever, be best mates. Nothing'll change that. Even if you are a werewolf. That doesn't make you any more or less of what you truly are, Rem. You're a wonderful, beautiful, amazing human being. I'll always love you for that. Don't ever forget that."

Remus slowly nodded, taking a deep breath. "Thanks, Sirius. That-that means a lot."

"See, Rem! The forest doesn't technically _have_ to be a bad thing, right? Right."

"I suppose not... Thank you."

* * *

**A.N:**

**(written by teddylupin-snape)**

**For: Big/Lil' Sis Prompt Competition Round 2, using the prompts: Remus/Sirius and forgotten.**


	3. Candlelit Forest (emily)

_By: Emily_

_For this one I used the prompts Lily/James, green, and insanity._

_Word count (not including A/N): 648_

**June 1978**

The redhead squealed in surprise and dropped her book.

"James... what - what are you doing?"

The boy in question just grinned and winded his fingers through her own, practically dragging her away from her spot underneath a tree, revising for the upcoming N.E.W.T's under the uncommonly clear skies.

"You'll see, Lily."

He continued practically running through the grounds firmly attached to her hand, and Lily was gasping and panting in exhaustion. She almost tripped on the root of a tree - twice.

Lily huffed. "Really, James? What's this insanity?" He looked back at her and she couldn't tell the expression on his face - nervous, was it? Lily spotted the approaching spindly branches of the Forbidden Forest and the dim, eerie glow around it and tensed up. They were at the edge of the Forest, with James looking at it anxiously and Lily backing away slowly, a little more than annoyed.

"Really? What debauchery have you and Sirius came up with in the Forest now?"

Instead of laughing eagerly and telling her slyly to 'wait and see,' he asked a question so unexpected that it caught her off guard.

"Lily, do you trust me?"

"Ah - well, wha- I, depends what you're doing..."

"Lily, do you honest-to-Merlin trust me as a person?"

"Yes," she admitted, and saw his shoulders sag in relief.

"James?" asked Lily curiously. "What's got you all tense?"

"Oh, nothing," he said a little too quickly.

"Why - why are we going into the Forest? We could get caught! We're the _Heads! _What in the name of Merlin are you thinking?"

"It's not anything that'll get either of us in trouble, Lily. I got permission from McGonagall."

"What?"

"You heard me - c'mon!"

He led her, hands still together, into the darkness. _Lumos, _James whispered, and a faint glow emitted from the tip of his wand. Lily tripped over the underbrush four times at the fast pace they were going at, only to be caught by James' steady hands and set right while still protesting and inquiring _what _exactly he was doing. After a few minutes of crashing through the woods, and surely waking up every creature that lived in there, James murmured _Nox _and the light went out.

"James!" said Lily, pulling her wand from her pocket.

"No," he said, gently catching her wrist. James kept leading her blindly but surely into the darkness of the woods.

Lily Jane Evans had never been more baffled by James Potter's behavior.

"Okay," he murmured, and his wand was set alight once more.

They were in a grassy clearing; not big, only about the size of a classroom. James let go of her hand and walked to a red rose in the middle of the clearing, picking it up while Lily held her wand out nervously.

James flicked his wand with purpose, and white floating candles came streaming out of the dark woods surrounding the clearing, lit and forming a circle around the two.

They weren't face-to-face anymore, but rather face-to-stomach - he was on one knee, a rose in one hand and a little black box in the other, surrounded by candlelight in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

Lily hardly had time to think before he spoke.

"Lily Jane Evans, I have never loved a woman as much as I love you. I've loved you, your red hair, your fiery personality, _everything _about you since the first time I laid eyes on you. I wanted everything to be special, including this. We're out here, just the two of us together, because I want you to _know _that there will never be anyone better for me than you. Will you do the honor of becoming my wife?"

Her green eyes shone with unshed tears. "I'd be honored."

Thinking back on that day, Lily wondered how _anyone _could _ever _hate the Forbidden Forest.


	4. Forgive Me (emily)

The cool autumn breeze nipped her skin, causing shivers to run down her spine. Wiping her face furiously with the back of her hand, Cho wrapped her hands around her knees tightly, bringing them to her chest and rocking back and forth, taking deep breaths and slowing the steady waterfall of tears.

The year before had gone _so_ wrong. Shouldn't she be over the grief, those days where she couldn't move, couldn't think, but instead wrapped herself in a cocoon of emotions, crying and murmuring apologies to him under her breath, because she had looked at someone else the way she'd look at him?

Using one shaking arm, she propelled herself up and got to her feet, from where she was observing the cold, still Black Lake with empty eyes. Sometimes she just needed to remember, and there was no place except for their place.

Cho avoided everyone on her way there, keeping her head towards the ground so nobody could see the pathetic red puffiness of her eyes.  
She lingered at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, gnawing on the bottom of her lip. Cho tentatively took a few steps forward into the unknown darkness, and a few more, and a few more, until her arm had reached out towards a rough, old elm tree.

_Lumos_, she muttered, and ran her fingertips over the bark of the tree, and on the back of it finding a carving, one that they'd both carved together by hand. A heart, with_ CC + CD_ scratched deeply into the tree.

"Forgive me," she murmured, lost in thoughts about Cedric's smile and the heart-wrenching confusion that her sixth year was turning out to be.

* * *

_Written by Emily for the Big Sis/Lil Sis Competition Round Two... I'm the Big Sis. Used the prompts empty, tears, and forgive me._

_Word Count with A/N: 279_


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